potential Fairy Tail fic
by Rangerfan58
Summary: it's an AU, full summary is inside. profile explains how i choose to rate things. need help with a title


_What you recognize I don't own, as always thoughts are italics. What if the third Guild Master had a bad feeling about the S-class trials and had Mest remember his true self of being a member of Fairy Tail, telling him that the time to hide his true self was over, and also what if he had been given a special mark that would let him know the group was still alive even if something happened. As such what if those seven years the group was gone was a time of him pretending (for the most part) of being someone who got drunk a lot and also keeping away from the Guild for their own protection, doing his own small things to keep Fairy Tail from being disbanded and keeping a roof over their heads? Also during those seven years Jellal and his group were captured and either imprisoned or executed depending on several factors including how they initially took their sentencing (Jellal is one of the ones imprisoned, I have my reasons for this)_

Mest was drinking and currently lost in his thoughts, looking at the special symbol

(Thinks) " _Seven years huh? It's hard to believe they've been gone for so long_ "

All of a sudden the symbol burns for a moment and then completely disappears making him look at where the symbol had been in shock

(Thinks) " _It...it can't be, not now, not after waiting for seven years, they can't be dead_ "

Mest waited a whole week, but when there were no signs of the mark returning or him hearing of the groups return he became genuinly drunk, one of his few times that he was drunk for real instead of faking it, though he _always_ got drunk for real on the anniversary of their disappearance, but that anniversary had already happened shortly before the symbol had disappeared for good. Just then two people came in, one of them was a recently released prisoner who knew the truth about the situation, the other was Lahar, and Lahar was the one who spoke

"Doranbolt, we have something to tell you"

"Two things Lahar, first my name is Mest, second, what are you doing with a known prisoner?"

"As for Jellal here, he's no longer a prisoner, that's his story to tell on how he gained his freedom by the way, as for what we have to tell you...Mest, that is for a more private place"

They go to a private area and that's where Mest is told that the group from Tenrou was alive, he was _not_ told that they hadn't aged in the past seven years, this was because of the fact that not only was the council still a bit wary of the explanation given by Fairy Tail (they said that it was a powerful magic used by the first master somehow) but Mest himself insisted on seeing them immediately, thus not giving the two the chance to tell him about the age issue. Once at the guild though he is shocked to see that none of them had seemed to age

"What...what happened? Why are all of you the same as that day?"

Makarov was the one who explained things to Mest and once that was done he was welcomed back into the guild with open arms once his undercover role and the fact that he had been part of Fairy Tail from the beginning was revealed to the guild as a whole

"Lahar, I'm sorry that you had to find out about things this way but...I can no longer be Doranbolt, my guild needs me"

"I know Mest, I have to stay to protect Fairy Tail as well"

Just then Erza spoke up

"Wait, what about Jellal?"

"Jellal is free Erza, what he chooses to do with his life from now on is his choice but he has been pardoned and will not be hunted by anyone"

"How?"

"I will tell everyone after we eat, after that...we'll go from there"

And so they eat and then everyone sits around Jellal to hear his side of the story

"As most of you know I was captured shortly before Tenrou Island and wouldn't have known what had happened to you guys if not for the king coming to visit me after Mest reported back and left, this was during the search period by the way"

 _Years earlier_

Jellal was just sitting in the cell when suddenly there were people in front of his cell, that he only knew because of the shadows

"Oh...and what have I done to receive visitors?"

"The only thing you've done is being a known friend to Erza Scarlet"

Jellal looks up and actually sees the king in front of him

"Your majesty, why does being friends with Erza warrant a visit?"

"She and several others of the guild have disappeared, along with the entire island of Tenrou"

"What?!"

Jellal stood up suddenly and ran into the cell door, but no one took much action due to the fact that they had expected his reaction, they mostly just took action to make sure that Jellal didn't accidentally hurt himself or anyone else with the sudden rush

"Have...have their been any signs of them?"

"No, however there are searches going on at the moment, in the meantime I have a proposition for you, one that I need unfortunately"

"How could I help?"

"Jellal, you will be my spy inside the prison"

"What?"

"There are people I don't trust, not since we lost Doranbolt after...after that incident with Fairy Tail"

"I see, if I complete the mission successfully will I and those with me be pardoned?"

"I haven't decided on that yet, however there is a very good chance that your sentences will be reduced should you do this"

"Has the rest of my group been offered the same bargain?"

"No, however that is only because I get the feeling that they see you as their leader and would defer any decision ultimately up to you"

"I see...do I have to make this choice immediately?"

"No, however I will not wait forever for you answer either, if you do not call me before I decide to visit you in person than you will have forfieted your chance"

"I understand"

Ultimately Jellal called the king after two weeks thoroughly thinking things through and deciding that any chance at early release and helping the country still was worth any price he might have to pay in the long run

"I'll do it"

"Thank you, once this is all over you will be compensated for your work, also even though you never asked for it if...if we hear about those from Tenrou island that disappeared you will be one of the first ones to know"

"I thank you for that, knowing that there might be a chance for _her_ to be alive will keep me going"

The next seven years weren't easy but Jellal and his team (once Jellal took up the offer it was offered to those that weren't executed and they too took up the offer gladly) personally stopped fifteen jail breaks from happening and at least thirty different assassination plots when one day they heard the one thing they never expected to hear, that Tenrou island had been found once more and that those on the island when it had disappeared were alive and also hadn't aged in all that time. They also learned that day that they had earned a complete pardon and were free citizens once more

 _Present_

"Once that was done we all went our separate ways, I went with Lahar to find Mest here to let him know about you guys being alive and you know the story from there"

"I see, it's...it's good to see you free"

"And it's good to know that you're alive, if the same age as before"

"Now we need to think about what to do next"

"In the meantime, I think you guys should know what I've done to help in the shadows"

"Mest, you..."

"Yeah, the drunk act was an act for the most part, and during the seven long years of you being gone I have secretly given you guys money when you've had lean days, and the guild you owe money to I've helped pay some of that as well at times, but now...now I can help officially and within the guild"

"Thanks Mest, but we still need to figure out what to do"

Ultimately it was decided that they would take part in the competition that those not protected by Mavis for seven years knew about

"Jellal, what are you going to do?"

"Compete, though I am wondering if I should compete as myself or as Mystogan"

"Why pose as Mystogan, besides looking like him?"

"He hasn't been seen in as long as you guys, if not a little longer in all actuality, there are probably people wondering where he has been during your disappearance, we need to show them that we're still strong"

"Thanks for that Jellal, but no, we don't want that, we want you to compete as yourself if you join our guild"

"That's the other thing, right now I don't know if I should join or not, but I do thank you for the offer, as such competing as Mystogan makes the most sense"

"But wait, doesn't everyone know about Edolas?"

"Yes, but they never found out about Mystogan being from Edolas and thus my counterpart"

"Good point"

However shortly before the competition was to begin it was cancelled, in part because of the return of the Fairy Tail members that had been missing for seven years, but also in part because there had been issues regarding the stage that had been picked for the competition

"So since that competition isn't happening what now?"

"Now we do missions and rebuild the guild"

"Guess that's the only thing we _can_ do"

Meanwhile in Edolas Mystogan was wondering how the Fairy Tail guild that he had been part of was doing when suddenly he was spoken to in his dream by a mysterious person and that person told him he was needed on Earth-Land, when he woke up he immediately sought out Erza Nightwalker and told her that he was leaving for Earth-Land and regaining his magical abilities, asking her to take care of the kingdom in his absence, and also giving instructions that if he was gone for a certain period of time to declare him dead

"But...what should I tell the people in the meantime? And also what about the council?"

"I should be able to take care of the council before I leave, and as for the people tell them...tell them that as king I decided on my own to take care of those disturbing

rumors that we recently heard about"

"Understood"

Two days later after everything regarding succession was taken care of Mystogan was back in Earth-Land, and part of why he put Erza Nightwalker in charge was because while they were never a couple Erza became not only his strongest body guards but also one of his most trusted advisors in private and as such he trusted her to lead the people well should he never return and choose her successor when the time came. As soon as he was on Earth-Land he immediately gathered what was needed for his Mystogan diguise and then headed towards Fairy Tail, while gathering bits and pieces of information about what had been happening in his absence, though he did _not_ find out about the Tenrou group since that had become old news by then and as such wasn't discussed. He ultimately took three weeks to get to Fairy Tail, but finally he was home, meanwhile the guild was simply relaxing after having dealt with a dark guild (with the help of Jellal that day) when suddenly the doors opened up and a person no one thought they would ever see again was in the doorway

"Mystogan?"

"Hey everyone"

"But...but how?"

"That's a story for later...how have you been Pantherlily?"

"Fine but..."

"It's okay, you can continue to stay and work with the new person that you've chosen though...why is it that some of you haven't seemed to age?"

"That's our own story Mystogan, but needless to say that powerful magic was involved"

"Right"

The two start talking with the Tenrou group explaining things to Mystogan first about them being in a time bubble created by Mavis the first master of the guild when Acnologia attacked Tenrou island during the S-class trials and that the bubble lasted for seven years and in said bubble they hadn't aged a day while Mystogan explained how he had suddenly regained his magical abilities and had been sent back to Earthland from Edolas for currently unknown reasons, though he also assured the group that had traveled to Edolas the first time that his people were in good hands either temporarily or permanantley if he should never be able to return home, and how he had immediately gotten into his Mystogan disguise so as to keep people from staring at him and try and capture him for whatever reason due to looking just like Earthland Jellal, eventually though all explanations were over and they now had to deal with a problem that was quite obvious

"So...how are we going to deal with this problem?"

"Hm...he can stay Mystogan and we can come up with a disguise for me just in case he ever loses his mask again so that people don't have that violent a reaction to seeing two people at the same time"

"People do know about Edolas though"

"True, but even then there's still a problem and you know that very well Mystogan don't you?"

"Yes, even if we can explain things through Edolas it will be very hard to tell us apart at need seeing as how Earthland Jellal doesn't want to join Fairy Tail and my mark is hidden"

"Actually..."

"You have thought about Master's offer?"

"Yes I have, not fully for or against but it's a thought"

"Okay, we do need a way to tell you two apart if that happens"

"However make it easy enough to undo so that if needed we can pretend to be each other"

"That could actually work, if they want Mystogan they could get me, if they want me they could get Mystogan and if they happen to catch both..."

Jellal simply shrugs while Natsu grins

"Oh the havoc you two could create with your different abilities"

"Jellal what about the rest of the group you gathered together...those still alive anyways?"

"We have parted ways, they're not ready for guild life according to them and want to figure out what they want for themselves before making any major choices"

"That makes sense I guess, in the meantime, welcome back Mystogan"

"Now then, I want to hear everything that I've missed"

And so they tell him the full story, not just what had happened to the Tenrou group but the guild overall with Mest explaining who he was as well. Once that was done Jellal decided where he wanted his guild mark and what color and then there was training between Mystogan and Jellal so that they could learn each others techniques and also how to fight together without canceling each other out, once that was done it was a free for all spar so that everyone could fight together smoothly, which was a bit more problematic but doable after a few days work

" _Finally_ I think we got things down and under control"

"By the way Mystogan, no more putting us to sleep at random okay?"

"Considering that the secret about Edolas is out and Jellal is free and part of Fairy Tail that will work"

"Oh, keeping yourself mysterious just in case at the time then?"

"Exactly"

"Understood"

Soon Jellal was on his first official mission with Fairy Tail with Natsu and his group and things went _wrong_ due to the fact that the guild hadn't been informed that a dark guild had been involved in the chaos that they were there to help with, only Jellal's skills would save the group's life after Natsu used up all his power (the enemy didn't give him any fire to eat to replenish his strength)

"Fire Dragon roar!...hey guys...I'm done in"

"My turn then, Pleiades!"

Eventually the group that Fairy Tail was fighting retreats and Team Natsu was given the chance to recover from the fight

"Okay, so think we need to call for reinforcements?"

"That's a good idea"

Erza contacted Fairy Tail and found out that they couldn't send anyone, fortunately though Blue Pegasus was in the area and came to the rescue helping Fairy Tail with the dark guild. Once that was over with the group went back to the guild and life continued on as normal as it ever was for them. Over the years Jellal's dual skills proved to be invaluable in many fights and when it came time to fight Zeref he was one of the key players in that fight that ensured the success of the battle, sadly over half the guild would die in that fight and he was one of them, while Mystogan was seriously injured and at half strength for the rest of his life and yet he was still made the guild master by mutual agreement, as for Mystogan he had figured out only three years into being back in Earth-Land that he would never be able to return to Edolas and thus was glad he had already made arrangements for Edolas to continue to thrive without him. As for Fairy Tail itself, it would rebuild and change over time, some of the rebuilding happened relatively fast due to the fact that many other guilds besides Fairy Tail fought Zeref and Lamia Scale was decimated in the fight with only three members surviving the final fight and while they were strong enough to rebuild Lamia Scale if they had wanted to they decided (after the proper time of mourning in their minds) to instead join Fairy Tail, as had some of the members from the Saber Tooth guild with their blessing since it had been obvious during the fight that the members of Saber Tooth that left were uncomfortable with the other members of Saber Tooth due to the fact that the powers just clashed too much and it also didn't hurt that they had been newer members anyways and thus that had always been a risk that they had chosen to take. What rebuilding that was left both physically and member wise would take over a decade and even then the scars of battle remained permanently. It also turned out that Mystogan would be the longest serving guild master passing on the torch one hundred and five years after taking up the role, his life having been extended through not only Mavis the first guild master but also due to a battle he had managed to take part of thirty years after the final battle with Zeref, he would die only three days later in his sleep no longer in pain from the injuries incurred in the battle that had extended his life so far and that had temporarily raised his magical power ever so slightly, while the power raise only lasted until the end of the fight it had been a welcome surprise and ultimately needed

"I guess that's the end of an era"

"True enough, but at least through him history was preserved for his entire lifetime, and will remain preserved due to his insistence on history being recorded properly"

After Mystogan's death Fairy Tail would change one last time for thirteen years before it would continue to change that one change that remained for so long was that Mystogan's staff was prominantly displayed in the center of the guild in a special case, but finally Mystogan's successor decided to put the staff away, but ultimately would not get the chance because a newcomer came to the guild that very day and made a very strange request, but that request would start a tradition that would change no matter how else the guild would change over the years

"Can I..can I take that staff and take his name?"

"If he does that I will take up the namesake Jellal, so that there will once again be a Mystogan and Jellal in the guild"

"Very well, I will allow it, let me get you a description of what he looked like so that you can complete the outfit"

And so within three days there was a new Mystogan and new Jellal, they wouldn't always have the same powers as the original holders of the names but they would _always_ look like the original holders, and would even use the same trick that Mystogan and Jellal used on occasion by pretending to be the other person so as to confuse their enemies, the one other thing regarding that new tradition was that those who took up the name of Mystogan and Jellal chose their successors, and interestingly enough one of the Jellal's actually became guild master just like the original Mystogan had become guild master, but no matter what changes the Fairy Tail guild went through they were as rowdy as ever, but also the most loyal people as well always thinking of everyone in the guild as family (which meant _trouble_ for dark guilds on the rare occasion they were stupid enough to capture any member of Fairy Tail no matter how temporary the capture was)


End file.
